Rejected Cannabis TV Ad Calls Attention to Opioid Crisis With Big Pharma Parody

As a patient suffering from pain, you can potentially get a prescription for Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet or another opioid during a doctor visit, with physicians in the U.S. writing 143 million such orders in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But rarely, if ever, would cannabis be mentioned as an alternative to those highly addictive drugs.

And in Missouri, which has been hard hit by the ongoing opioid epidemic, broaching the idea of a weed-for-pharmaceuticals swap-out is also verboten on television.

That’s what Show-Me Organics, a house of cannabis brands, found out recently when it tried to air a Big Pharma-style ad called “Ask Your Doctor” on TV stations in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Local broadcasters refused to accept it, despite rules that now say weed marketing “shall be no more stringent than comparable state regulations on the advertising and promotion of alcohol sales,” per the new constitutional amendment that legalized cannabis for recreational sales.

Taking that language verbatim and blowing it up on a presentation deck, company execs thought they might have a chance at airing “Ask Your Doctor” during evening news programs in the larger, more progressive cities. The satirical video does not hype a specific product and contains minimal branding in its final seconds, which marketers also thought would work in their favor.

“We have to ask for those opportunities or they’re never going to open up,” Tony Billmeyer, an ad agency alum who’s now chief marketing officer at Show-Me Organics, told Adweek. “Politically and culturally, we’re at a new moment in time, and there’s a pointed argument to be made about cannabis being legitimate medicine.”

Show-Me Organics’ attempt to break into a traditionally off-limits area for cannabis marketing coincides with recent recommendations from the federal Department of Health and Human Services to reschedule cannabis. 

While still facing numerous governmental hurdles, the HHS recommends that cannabis be taken out of the most restrictive level (Schedule I, with LSD and heroin) and put alongside prescription medications like ketamine and anabolic steroids (Schedule III). 

In another well-timed hook, “Ask Your Doctor” has launched during National Recovery Month, and September is home to national and global opioid awareness and overdose awareness initiatives. 

Show-Me Organics’ campaign comes as a number of brands in the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry are increasingly flexing their activist muscles on social justice, legal reform and other issues, often rallying the public for support.

Meantime, 88% of Americans say they favor cannabis legalization in some form, according to Pew Research, with 38 states having approved medical sales and 23 allowing recreational sales.

Still, tight restrictions on marketing remain, though professional groups like the Cannabis Media Council is “hopeful that more and more mainstream media companies will open their inventory to the cannabis sector,” per the organization’s co-founder Amy Deneson.

Beyond awareness

Despite the network television blackout, “Ask Your Doctor,” developed by newly launched independent ad agency Bandits & Friends, has a broad paid media plan with an emphasis on “captive viewing moments,” Billmeyer said. 

The ad will get distribution in-theater via a deal with Screenvision and on digital and streaming video, all targeted at Missouri residents.

The hero video is part of a larger effort that includes a free 10-minute ASMR-style guided meditation on Show-Me Organics’ website, aimed at helping people relax and fall asleep. 

Since patients often struggle with insomnia when they stop taking opioids, the audio intends to provide some relief to those consumers while tying in with one of the conglomerate’s sleep aids, Vivid Dream Capsules. 

Dispensaries selling the Vivid product are displaying a QR code that directs buyers to the “Dream With Me” track, which features soothing music, ocean sounds and wind chimes.

The activation highlights the solutions-based nature of the program, with the company aiming to go beyond simply raising awareness, Billmeyer said. 

Goodby reunion

The goal of “Ask Your Doctor” was to combat the myth that weed is nothing more than a party drug and insert it into the conversation as a possible substitute for opioids. For the brief, Billmeyer turned to former colleagues at Goodby Silverstein & Partners who had recently opened their own shop, Bandits & Friends.

As a concept, the well-worn tropes of Big Pharma ads were fitting for several reasons, not the least of which is the abundant stock footage available to power a lookalike spot on a shoestring budget, creatives said.

The script couldn’t make medical claims about weed, but didn’t mince words in its broadside of often-abused pharmaceuticals, co-opting the instantly recognizable phrase “ask your doctor.”

The 30-second ad, with its intentionally cheesy visuals and stereotypical narration, dropped some harsh stats, noting the 187 opioid-related overdoses a day in the U.S. and side effects that include “heart attacks, addiction, coma, death and moderate to severe constipation.”

“We had to tow a line, be tasteful and not make jokes about series topics like overdoses,” Danny Gonzalez, co-chief creative officer, told Adweek. “We wanted to create some intrigue in a dark and humorous but smart way.”